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Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and bank regulator Sheila Bair will testify this week before a panel exploring the causes of the financial crisis.
The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, a 10-member Congressionally appointed panel, said on Monday it will hear on Wednesday and Thursday from a slate of regulators and high-profile figures in the crisis, including former Lehman Brothers Chief Executive Dick Fuld and ex-Wachovia CEO Robert Steel.
The two-day hearing will explore the concept of "too big to fail" -- the idea that some institutions are so large and interconnected that they have an implicit government backstop.
The Dodd-Frank Act passed earlier this summer aims to crack down on such a concept by forcing big financial firms to write living wills that regulators would use to dismantle them if they became insolvent.
The FCIC has held a series of public hearings since January, bringing before them major players in the financial crisis and famous figures such as investor Warren Buffett as it chronicles the roots and impact of the crisis in a report due December 15.
On Wednesday, the FCIC will be studying Wachovia, which was acquired by Wells Fargo during the financial meltdown, and Lehman Brothers, which was allowed to collapse, after which credit markets virtually froze.
On Thursday, the panel will be looking at the role of the Fed and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp in the concept of "too big to fail."
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